Last B214ST retired from N.Sea ops

[Richard Taylor]

See Bristow retired the last 214, G-BKFN, from N.Sea ops yesterday after something like 25yrs service with B-Cal Helis & Bristow.
End of an era, will miss the auld bird!
Still recall when a young nipper seeing all 4 that B-Cal had.

[Helioil]

On the Statfjord field Statoil still have their Bell 214 ST operated by CHC......... So it is still around in the North Sea:=

[eman_resu]

I know we have rotorheads around the world etc, but surely this thread deserves a couple of pictures of said machine :ok:

[Richard Taylor]

Of course, I should have said UKCS & not North Sea generally! :O

Yes:

i. heading for USA, I've also heard (her siblings are out there?)
ii. Some photos would be nice I agree. :ok:

[excrewingbod]

Here are a few from last year....

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y205/DarrenBe/EGPD/26th%20Sep%202006/GBKFN_260906.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y205/DarrenBe/EGPD/26th%20Sep%202006/GBKFN03_260906.jpg

The stories I still get told to this day about the adventures of 'FN', a few pilots and a particular engineer.

[TiPwEiGhT]

Found a picture FN on airliners.net in it's B-Cal days. It had skids then but wheel gear now... whay would the reason for changing be and is it not a mass job?

TiP:confused:

[Special 25]

Ahh, but remember the old days. Great machine, and Aberdeen won't be the same without that sound overhead


http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1267/553372811_fd81e33d1d.jpg


http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1044/553372803_3dd1dfe35f.jpg


Sorry, can't work out how to get the photos to appear by themselves !!



Fixed.
Heliport

[NLJ]

Glad to see I'm not the only to get attached to a helicopter. Have never flown a 214ST but shared the same airspace during numerous Silverstone shuttles. Very impressive, especially when chasing one round the hold at 'East Point'!

[Blackhawk9]

I maintained that machine when it was on lease to Lloyd Helicopters Australia was xfered to Bristows Australia for a couple of years then leased to Lloyds then returned to the UK when the ST's were replaced with 332L1's. BKFN (28109)(VH-BEE in Oz), was usualy used as a backup machine as the UK machines were several hundred pounds heavier with all the northsea crap on them than the ST's we had from the US, VH-LHQ (28101) also an ex Caledonian machine had all the UK CAA reqd and north sea gear removed during a refurb and reconfigured to FAA, spec and is still flying with PHI in the States, VH-LHU (28102) is also with PHI, will try and find some photos of the old girls and post them, I liked them a million percent more the the Super Pussies that replaced them.

[unstable load]

Special 25,

Nice pics, but what is that on the advancing blade in the in-flight picture. It seems to be attaced to the hub and not on the water?

[rb2147]

I was, with DT, lucky to be on last revenue flight in from the Britannia, Alba FSU. Lots of pics and movies (hopefully with great sound!) were taken that day. Will attempt to collate and make available to anyone interested.
ATC Aberdeen were brilliant, very complimentary about the professionalism of the 214ST crews over the years and approved a low approach and 150kt go around over the Bristow complex. We managed to score a direct hit on the training dept , when a wallclock (in the S92 CTC's office) was dislodged by the resultant vibs.
Final ferry to Southampton proposed before end of the month. If you want a personal fly-by why not give us your GPS co-ordinates! (Speechless 2 should be right on track). Can't promise anything, but it may possible.
Can confirm Fox Noddy will sadly be broken up for spares in States.

[Special 25]

Unstable Load - I scanned the photo out of a book and was going to say that it must have been a thread on the scanner - Have just checked the original and sure enough, it is there as well.

Not entirely sure, but pretty confident it is an error in the photo and not a feature of the aircraft !

[212man]

As the S92ctc, TR should be used to vibrations by now!:ok:

[js0987]

Something tells me that FN might just have some life left in her yet. I have no idea how much time she has or how much time her various parts have, but here in beautiful Galliano, Louisianna, there are 4 ST's - 3 of which are on contract - and a second spare ST can always help. If she shows up here, I'll post a picture of her and her sisters.

[heli1]

RB2147......If en route to Soton you could pass by the Heli Museum at Weston-super- Mare ...N51 20-34 / W002 55-95 and do a touch and go (or pop in for a bacon sarnie and see our Bristow Wessex and Whirlwind ) that would be great.
Better still ,leave it behind for the collection !

Bristow Powers To Be ...are you listening ???

[Birdonawire]

Hello all,

Just to say that the Royal Brunei Air Force has a real gem of a 214ST on its books and she is still found beating its way around the jungle at 160Kts VNE ..... a real peachy aircraft!

I have the honour of having a sweet 107 hrs on type ...what a combat helicopter !!

[SBoyer]

I was the Bell Test Pilot to put this sweet old bird through production test flight and then had the pleasure of flying conversion training with some of the super pros that BCAL had put on staff to make the operation a go.
I'll never forget the good times in Teeside and Aberdeen, and rental car sacrifices we all did on both sides of the pond.

I'm still here at Bell as Principal production Test Pilot, still having fun and seeing the world.

I must say, of all the machines we've built through the years, this model is still one of my most favorite.

[drakkar]

Combat Helicopter !!!!!

I'm a bit confused to read all these sweet replies for an aircraft which has been produced at less than 100 exemplars. Obviously the 214 lacked 2 or 3 years of development to fix all the problems she had and still have.
What to say about a start sequence probably designed by a professor Nimbus, the fly by wire stab always popped out, limiting the speed to 120 Kts, rear CG, rotor brake system, servo leaks, MGB chock absorbers etc...
160 KTS is the VNE, at see level certainly and at Aberdeen, but the aircraft was developped for the middle east with a density altitude of 3000 ft at sea level. When you climb at 10000 Ft, VNE is close to 100 Kts.
Combat Helicopter ? Try to fly NOE, you will feel the inertia of a two blades design, If the noddle beams allow you to shake the machine a little bit....
I flew this helicopter for more than 300 hours in various type of flight. The 214ST is perfect for a trip A to B in steady air, the passengers like the external visibility, the internal noise is acceptable, for logging that's OK, even though you have strong variation of torque at very low speed. To be honest, I have to say that compared to a Puma 330J, this aircraft burns only 850 lbs of fuel, instead of 1200, 214 ST with weels has no speed limitations to land, which could be very useful in emergency situation.

Drakkar

[mark one eyeball]

I flew the B214st with BCAL back in the 80's.
Having previously flown the AS332L with Bristow I found the B214st a much more safer craft for some reason.
But I do recall some interesting events there in ABZ.
1. The drag brace breaking at 3000' after take off from ABZ and the crew somehow bringing it to a safe landing albeit a run on into a nice flat field at 100kts.
2. FN with loss of collective control and its ditching in the North Sea on a flat calm day.
3. The engine failure and the crew unable to put the other engine into override and the subsequent "Mayday"
I left the North Sea in 1986 to go fixed wing but still keep my heli licence current. Now type rated on the R44 I very much enjoy heli flying, such a buzz!

[griffothefog]

We are currently operating 3 a/c for the royal oman police. I have some good pics of the old girl doing some very challenging flying, but dont know how to post...
Anyone interested in doing it for me, please pm me.:{

[twisted wrench]

I hope the pilot did not park the ST there because he had a tail rotor gear box chip light!!!

Has been 22 years since I worked on those things sure made a post flight inspection interesting some times on what you would find wrong.

[Hippolite]

Blackhawk 9

The ex Lloyd Australia aircraft which went to PHI have all been moved on now.

PHI no longer operates any 214STs in the GOM, they have 9 x S-92 for long range drilling and production support.

The PHI 214STs have gone to Iraq and are now owned and operated by Blackwater I believe.

[heole]

Mr S. Boyer still works for Bell helicopter

Regards

[heli1]

So what happened to all Saddam's 214STs,which were sold by Bell to the "Agriculture Ministry" !
I know a couple were captured and returned to the US but there are still at least 40 unaccounted for .

[Ada Quonsett]

http://www.fredmiranda.com/hosting/showphoto.php?photo=30561&sort=1&size=medium&cat=500&page=1